FEATURING ARTISTS & AUTHORS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

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This year has been so full of amazing people, beautiful art, fascinating stories, and personal triumphs it’s just a bit overwhelming. I feel so blessed by it all, and by all of you: my readers, and my interviewees, that I just want to re-share some of the fun. So here’s a look back at the artists and authors who’ve made this year great!

First, I’m so grateful to all of my interviewees. You are why I write this thing. I love showcasing not just your talent, but how absolutely wonderful you all are.

Second, I’d like to thank everyone at Art Chowder magazine, esp. Dean Cameron for finding me here and inviting me to join your ranks. Interviewing artists and writing for you has been a fabulous experience. I can’t wait to see what this next year holds!

And finally, a big shout out to everyone who helped make my own book Waxing is Uselessa reality: the Tin Pencil writer’s group, the St. Francis of Assisi writer’s group, my two besties Kym & Cheryl, and the best friends and editors a writer could ever have, Sue Eller & Kate Poitevin.

So my first novel, Waxing is Useless has been out for nearly 2 months now. It’s still somewhat surreal that it’s out there, but what’s even more surreal is the sweet, positive comments and reviews I’ve been getting!

To all out there who’ve taken the time to visit the Amazon site and leave a review,

This month’s #BlogBattle word was ‘Educate’. With that in mind, here’s another small installment on the Luna Chronicles’ Moon family. Enjoy 😉

Tammy watched as her mom loped out the back gate to join Walt. Pack historian and Beta of the Spokane Guardians, he greeted Miranda in the alley before they both disappeared into the moonless night. So much had changed since her mother had been diagnosed with Lupus and joined the pack Tammy wasn’t sure her brain could keep up.

A few months ago she’d been so angry about her mother’s poor health, blaming her for wrecking family outings by being too tired, using up family funds for, what she had thought at the time were, unnecessary doctor visits, and for not being there when Tammy needed her. The super reliable, highly motivated and organized mom she’d grown up with had slowly disappeared over the course of the last year. She’d given up her PTA duties, stopped teaching Sunday School at their parish, and didn’t make it to a single one of Tammy’s volleyball games. Mom said it was because taking on an office job after fifteen years as a stay-at-home parent was too much for her, but Tammy suspected it was due to all the extra weight mom had put on. She blamed it on the steroids, but Tammy had assumed it was because she ate too much and rarely got off the couch anymore. Isn’t that what usually happens when people do that?

Tammy cut her mom a little slack when she injured herself. Mom was a total klutz, but the last accidental injury had been really bad. Miranda’s knee had given out and she fell face first onto the washing machine, breaking her nose and gaining a concussion. That had scared Tammy into considering the possibility that her mom really did suffer some illness, but it wasn’t until Dr. Reynolds diagnosis – Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (or SLE) – that Tammy really began to understand what it was her mom had been struggling with.

Dad had shared the pamphlets Dr. Reynolds gave him and asked both kids to read them. Matt read them over immediately (of course) but Tammy was still too angry. She’d thrown them aside and ignored them. They’d lain on the floor of her bedroom for weeks until something terrible and miraculous happened. Her brother was kidnapped and her mom came out of the closet – as a werewolf! It had been a harrowing night that, thankfully, ended well.

Now her mother was one of the Spokane Guardians. Mom’s friend and Mentor, Sherryl had explained that they weren’t like the movie werewolves. Silver did not bother them, the moon didn’t force their transformations, and they didn’t go nuts and kill people. Well, hardly ever. They were, according to Sherryl, a pack of werewolves created by an unknown saint, and charged with the protection of whatever community they happened to be a part of. Tammy thought that was pretty cool, but the best part as far as she was concerned was her mother’s new ability to eat anything and never gain an ounce! She sort of wished she could do that too, but didn’t really want to deal with all the follicular challenges mom now faced. Especially since that hilarious Nair incident.

Tammy chuckled as the memory filtered through her brain. She still needed to get copies of those pictures from Stan, the Alpha of the pack! Tammy’s smile dissolved into a sigh. Time to get back to the books Walt had lent her. There were three of them: Spokane Guardians – A Short History, Lupus: A Disease for Humans and Canines, and last but not least, So Your Family Member’s A Werewolf – A Guide To What Comes Next. She wandered back to her bedroom, shut the door and started the playlist on her laptop. As Drake’s song God’s Plan filled her room Tammy cracked open the first book. “Time to get educated.”

P.S. If you are looking for a good, clean Halloween read, check out my first novel in the Luna Chronicles, Waxing is Useless. What happens when a middle age soccer mom faces adversity? She grows fur and a tail, of course! **Excerpt below.

Miranda closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on breathing, but the minute she shut them her other senses seemed to explode. Her heart raced, a bass accompaniment to a symphony of dripping water, crackling ice, a light breeze, and somewhere a few blocks away, tires on icy streets. She could feel every blade of mushy grass beneath her hands and feet. She felt the mud and the slight temperature fluctuations in the wind. Even the moonlight felt like waves of mist against her burning skin.

Lifting her face to the sky, she inhaled deeply. Scents she’d never recognized before sifted into her brain. She identified crocus shoots, compost, and weirdly, earthworms. She turned her face north into the wind. Someone was smoking marijuana in a nearby home. The Kollyers had apparently grilled chicken earlier. George burned it a bit. The chemical floral scent of someone’s dryer stuck in her throat, making her gag. She sneezed to clear her nose and continued to explore the scents of the neighborhood. Wood smoke from someone’s stove and beer and cigarettes from the bar four blocks away. She couldn’t believe what all she was sensing!

Miranda opened her eyes. She had spent so much time analyzing scents that the moon had slipped lower in the sky, and the temperature had dropped even further. She knew it was cold enough to become hypothermic but didn’t feel cold at all.

She focused on her surroundings. She could see everything so clearly! Details she’d never noticed during the day jumped out at her in the dark. Despite the strange new clarity of her eyesight, Miranda was finding it hard to think. Her brain felt foggy. She considered calling for help, but she couldn’t work up the energy to vocalize her need.

Fighting the urge to lay down in the now semi-frozen grass, she forced herself to stand, and swayed unsteadily for a moment before she turned toward the house. She’d taken two lurching steps when something metallic hit the cement floor inside the garage. Someone is in there!

So, it’s been a little over three weeks since I published my book, Waxing is Useless, and my feet are finally hitting ground again. To be honest, with a bit of a ‘THUNK’.

My starry eyed feeling of actual authorship has calmed into a slight panic. What do I do now? Marketing is something I’m on the vague edges of understanding, but in reality, I have no idea where to go with it.

I’ve dutifully set up my author central bio on KDP, linked this blog, even started a new blog – that has yet to be used. I’ve got my Twitter account going and am slowly building a following. Sloooooowly. I’ve even got my Instagram thing happening. Sort of. So what’s a new author to do at this point? I guess as I figure things out I’ll share them here, but if anyone has any advice, please leave a comment and share it with me and any other authors out there!